Same Ol’ Same Ol’ (Color): Magic Combinations

I love using many different fabrics of the same color to generate interest in a quilt. On a recent design, I created red and green pieced borders and I love the way they turned out. They finished off a scrappy quilt quite nicely.

People often ask me about combining fabrics and how I do it. So let’s talk about those greens.

One of the first secrets is to cut greens from all the different shades you have in your stash. Include the yellow-greens, the blue-greens, the weird off-greens and the very darks. For this project, I didn’t cut any greens that were extremely light because I wanted the border to be a frame, finishing off the quilt. My frame was intended to be darkish, so extreme lights were left out of the mix.

What not to do: too much similarity in adjoining patches

When I join these green patches together, I want every one to contrast with its neighbor. The photo above shows what not to do. You do not want patches next to each other that are very similar.

This is what you want!

The photo above shows what I mean. Each patch is different from its neighbor, giving a nice contrast and building interest all the way around the edge of the quilt. This kind of arrangement will help your eye to dance happily around!

This border will give the quilt a lot of interest around its edges.

Here’s an example in red. This quilt used up a lot of the red in my stash, but it was worth it.

Scarlet Spin by Diane Harris for Quiltmaker. Photo by Mellisa Karlin Mahoney. Used with permission.

Do you see how the scrappiness of the border reinforces the scrappiness at the quilt’s center?

The best advice I can give you is to be fearless. I have made some wild quilts as I learned about combining fabrics in interesting ways. I could not afford to be afraid, or rather, I couldn’t afford to be afraid of making too wild of a quilt. I am afraid of making something boring. I’d rather make an outlandish quilt than a boring quilt!

Combine your fabrics with wild abandon, learn as you go, and make something wonderful! I’ll be your biggest cheerleader.